Get started

Choose the smallest integration path that matches the work you need to do. Every path begins with a clean install prefix built from the pinned preview source.

Choose an integration path

Host-neutral and offline

Choose this path when an application needs deterministic transport, routing, media preparation, or batch rendering without opening an audio device. The core APIs are host-neutral and operate without runtime network access. Continue with Build and install, then Link the SDK. For reader/transport/writer composition, see offline rendering.

Device-backed playback

Choose this path only when the application owns an audio callback and has a supported device backend. CoreAudio is supported on macOS. The Dummy driver is available for device-free tests. Linux has no production device backend in this preview, and Windows WASAPI is not release-supported; compiling a backend is not enough to promote it. After installing, follow Link the SDK and then review realtime hosting and audio devices.

C ABI integration

Choose this path when the host cannot consume the C++ package surface or needs a stable table-based boundary. The pinned SDK exposes ABI major 1, minor 0 through forwarding headers. Build the package first, then follow C ABI negotiation.

Audio-file utility integration

Choose this path when media import/export is performed outside an audio callback. File open, capability discovery, preflight, probing, hashing, and writing are control/background operations. Build with the required SndFile provider, then follow Audio files for the bounded WAV PCM16 evidence procedure.

Prerequisites

• A clean checkout of the pinned source revision 0238eac1721d820d16ba5390e0e4641391be1d59.
• CMake 3.22 or newer and a compiler with C++20 support. The documented release toolchains are listed in the support matrix.
• A build environment that provides the SndFile::sndfile CMake target. The documented evidence build selects the SndFile provider explicitly and fails if that target is unavailable.
• A separate build and install directory for this revision; do not mix headers, libraries, or package metadata from another checkout.

Recommended order

1. Build and install the SDK.
2. Discover and link the transport target, or choose audio files and C ABI negotiation for those surfaces.
3. Check the generated target availability and capability results before selecting device-specific behavior.
4. For callback code, apply the time and threading model and realtime hosting rules.

The upstream examples describe the installed-package learning path and public interfaces in the examples guide.